It received nearly 1,700 calls in 2021, with nearly 60% of the reported incidents falling short of criminal standards, according to an annual report from Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s office. Oregon created a similar bias hotline in 2019. The Department of Homeland Security and experts who study extremism have warned that hateful rhetoric can be seen as a call to action by extremists groups. Hate speech can be damaging and repugnant, but is still generally protected by the First Amendment. Opponents, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said they feared it would chill protected speech because it encompasses both criminal behavior and offensively biased statements. It aimed to help the state collect information about hate crimes and bias incidents and to provide support and compensation to victims at a time when hate crime reports are rising. Javier Valdez and backed by several groups including the Anti-Defamation League, Urban League, Council on American-Islamic Relations and others. Washington state’s bias hotline bill, which died in committee earlier this year, was sponsored by Democratic Sen. Still, no one political group has a monopoly on censorship - aggression is increasing across the spectrum, Cohn said.
